Across The Sky In Stars
by prouvaires
Summary: Richard, knight of England, is sent to Pern, mostly by accident. When he Impresses Kalaruth, he's soon to find out that dragons aren't just slavering beasts that like to eat maidens and burn things.
1. Chapter I

**Across the Sky in Stars**

_I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands _

_And wrote my will across the sky in stars._

**-**T.E. Lawrence

**for Kitsuneko, who set the challenge of a mediaeval knight ending up on Pern.**

---

**Chapter I**

_I got my hands all ready to touch your soul,_

_Gonna get the energy to wire me close to you._

- The Promise, Girls Aloud

---

Richard stared up at the dais, confusion warring with desire somewhere inside his chest. Of course he wanted the glory and honour this chance would bring him, but the danger involved was extremely great, and the king seemed to have no fear of this.

"My Lord?" he asked, his brows drawn. The king turned world-weary eyes on the young knight.

"Yes, Sir Richard?"

"I'm afraid I don't fully understand. You say this quest could possibly result in my death, and yet you have such confidence in my return that you offer me your daughter in marriage?"

The king's lips twitched as though Richard's words amused him, and he leant forward, the gold circlet on his brow glimmering against his heavy black hair.

"I have faith in you, Sir Knight. You are a man of honour, and you have talent with your sword. You will return to us. As such, you will attend Caelan tomorrow morning at dawn, and he will send you where it is you shall begin your quest. You are dismissed."

Richard withdrew quickly – it was easier to humour the king in his whims than to argue with him, as that course of action as often as not ended up in you being the leader of the next suicide charge on his enemies. However, he was leery of what Caelan, the court wizard, would be doing to him when he turned up in the morning.

Like most other knights at the court of the king, Richard was wary of magic, and tended to avoid the wizard when he could. However, the glory offered to him as a result of completing this quest for the king would give him such reputation and riches that he would never have to do another thing in his life, and with the princess's hand in marriage thrown into the bargain, Richard couldn't think of one man who would refuse this chance.

After all, the mission was pretty simple. Three words, four syllables, one command.

Slay the dragon.

---

Richard was waiting patiently for the wizard to show up at dawn the next morning. His squire had dressed him, and his armour shone in the faint sunlight. His sword rested at his hip, a familiar weight that was now a part of him. He held his helmet under his left arm and the reins of his sleepy charger in his right hand, the large brown stallion blinking tiredly as it shifted its weight from foot to foot.

He'd been at King Ralthorn's court for seven years now, since the day he turned twelve. As a young boy, he'd dreamed of being the highest knight in all of England, renowned for his prowess in battle. Now nineteen, he'd seen more of the world than he cared to admit, and while not exactly renowned for battle prowess, he'd gained a reputation among a select group as a good swordsman who kept his head well in the heat of battle. It was for this reason that the king had selected him to attempt to kill the dragon.

The dragon itself was a somewhat dubious creature. No-one knew exactly where it lived, what colour it was (accounts raged through green to red and purple and blue), or how best to kill it. Richard privately wondered whether it actually existed. But, he knew that if anyone could find the dragon for him, it would be Caelan.

As though Richard's thoughts had summoned him, the wizard appeared in the entrance of the dingy room, blocking the sunlight momentarily. He was followed by two acolytes, who each carried a small cauldron, which they hurriedly emptied into the large pot bubbling over a fire in the centre of the space.

Richard warily took a step back as clouds of sweet-smelling yellow steam hissed upwards, blurring the outlines of the three other people in the room. Behind him, his horse perked up for the first time and grew restless, his tail swishing worriedly. Richard placed a gloved hand on his muzzle and soothed him with gentle murmurs as the wizard and his apprentices bustled around adding various ingredients to the iron cauldron on the fire.

"Step forward, please," Caelan eventually ordered, looming through the smoke towards Richard. The horse snorted, perhaps in fear, perhaps in humour at the idea that Richard would be so stupid as to comply.

Richard stepped forward, and the horse regarded him in shock for a moment before hesitantly following him. Both man and horse watched as the wizard began a strange, ritualistic dance and listened as he intoned in a monotonous voice the words to his spell, dabbing a line of the potion on first Richard's forehead and down his nose, and then down the horse's face.

"_By the mountain high,_

_And river deep,_

_By the full moon's sigh,_

_And faith's great leap,_

_By ogre's wrath,_

_And pixie's mirth,_

_Send this knight to the dragon's birth!_"

Richard watched in astonishment as tendrils of glistening golden light reached out towards him and wrapped themselves around his arms and legs, sliding upwards and slipping down his arm and up the reins of his horse, gradually casing them both in a living golden net.

Just as Richard was about to sound his alarm, his world went black, and he lost all his senses. He couldn't feel the hand that gripped his horse's reins, nor the ground beneath him, air around him or the heart inside his chest. His left arm flailed and he lost his helmet, and hoped he tightened his grip on his charger's reins, but the lack of feeling left him totally bewildered. Just as he was about to scream, light and sound rushed back into him and he staggered into his horse's chest.

Gripping at the saddle, he managed to stay upright as he gazed around the huge cavern. Hundreds of confused faces stared at him in shock, and he only became aware of the larger figures when one reared up onto its hind legs and bugled out a warning.

By the gods, it couldn't be! But Richard could be left in no doubt as he counted more and more of the enormous, winged beasts.

Dragons. The wizard's spell had worked after all!

"Excuse me," a voice said somewhere to his left. He jerked around to see a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years staring at him in confusion, a huge collection of eggs behind him. "Are you a candidate?" the boy asked, and Richard was about to ask what he meant when his horse behind him reared up and screamed in fear as a truly gargantum golden dragon stomped across the sand towards him.

"How dare you disturb Amelianth's hatching?!" a small figure shouted in fury at him from next to the dragon's paw. Richard started to draw his sword, then sheathed it again when he realised it was only a woman. Warily, always watching the dragon, he caught his horse by the reins and hung on.

He calculated quickly. The dragon didn't have scales, which meant he could do some damage with his sword. As if sensing his thoughts, the dragon's head swung down towards him, its huge eye almost as big as his head.

"Don't even think about it," the woman ordered, marching up to him and thumping in the chest, making his armour ring. By now, a larger group of men had gathered around, with a couple more huge dragons, these bronze, stood behind them.

"Explain yourself, young man," a heavy-set man commanded, his hand resting on one of the bronze dragon's forearms. Richard was forced to come to the very possible conclusion that these people – whoever they were – coexisted with the dragons peacefully, and were not being repressed or living in fear of them. In fact, one of the men seemed to be talking to the dragon apparently attached to him, as he was talking and nodding seemingly in response to what the dragon was saying. Although Richard didn't see how this could be, as the dragon was making no noise at all.

"I'm Richard, son of Valentine, son of Henry. I serve in the court of King Ralthorn. I am charged with slaying the dragon. Although I think that right now that probably wouldn't be a good idea."

Several men chuckled, but the woman was unimpressed. "You think right. I don't know by what means you came here, but you have disturbed the hatching, and you had sharding better get off the sands before the first egg cracks or I won't be able to prevent Amelianth from making a snack of you."

"Kamella, calm down," one of the men said with amusement. Taking Richard's arm, he began to lead him across the sand, the horse behind him picking up its feet and snorting in complaint about the heat. The dragons lifted off with a rush of wind, and Richard for the first time noticed the humming that dominated the cave.

"You've caught us at the worst possible time – Kamella's been tetchy for weeks. She's only just become weyrwoman, so she's a little on egde, and Amelianth's picking up on that. Usually they're both very genial."

The humming increased in pitch, and the man halted momentarily to watch as the first egg cracked and expelled a creeling dragonet. Richard stopped in amazement, watching in delight as the green hatchling stumbled across the sands and landed in a heap at the feet of a young girl, who cried out in joy as she hugged the baby to her.

"Her name is Wrayth!" the girl shouted, and cheers resounded around the cavern.

"What _is _this?" Richard asked as more dragonets hatched and began pairing up with the youngsters around the cavern. Although, not all youngsters, as Richard could see some who seemed close to his age.

"It's a hatching, obviously," the man with him said, and his tone of voice implied that Richard was extremely dense in not realising this. "The dragons hatch and Impress on the one they've chosen to be their rider, and the two are paired for life."

Richard watched as a blue totally ignored a girl to its left and headed for an older boy, whose smile could have lit up a whole room as he yelled out, "he says his name is Fesuth!"

"Why are there only four colours?" he asked, absently patting his horse's neck as he watched, feeling a rare warmth and contentment spread through him as he regarded the scene.

"Five," the man corrected. "The queen hasn't hatched yet. Assuming you're not from around here, I'm going to tell you what even children not three Turns old on Pern know. The golds are queens, they lay the eggs, and are ridden by women only. The bronzes are male, like my Alroth, and they fly the queen. They have men riders only. The browns are next in size and importance, and they're ridden by men also. The greens are female, and they cannot lay but still rise to mate. They are ridden by men or women. And lastly the blues, which are male, and ridden by men."

"Wow," Richard stated, blowing out in shock at the amount of information piled upon him. The man laughed and held out his hand for Richard to shake.

"V'dor, weyrleader. My daughter is standing for the queen today," he said, indicating a young woman whom Richard could only see the back of. He admired her hair, which was a vibrant and unusual shade of deep red, and decided not to ask about the strange pronunciation of the man's name, nor the term 'weyrleader'.

"Richard," he replied, shaking V'dor's hand. The man looked like he was about to add more when Richard's horse suddenly reared up again and whinnied in warning, tossing its head about. Richard glanced up to see a bronze dragonet heading in their direction. He looked over his shoulder to see who stood behind them, but there was no-one. With a sickening feeling lodging in the pit of his stomach, Richard turned back to the dragonet.

"Shards, no," V'dor muttered as the hatchling came closer, eventually halting at their feet, and turned brilliant, adoring rainbow eyes up at Richard.

_I am Kalaruth, _a voice announced in Richard's head, and against his will the knight found himself drawn to the awkward little creature. Dropping to his knees, he caressed the dragonet's head gently; mind, body and soul suffused with love for the hatchling.

"His name's Kalaruth," Richard said, craning his head upwards to look at V'dor. The man was a strange shade of red, and was gesturing for someone to come to him. Richard just stayed on the sands, the heat of the sand not bothering him through his armour, and running his hands all over the – _his _– dragonet's body.

_Don't be silly. I am not yours. You are mine._

Richard found himself grinning down at the hatchling, who arched his back against the caress like a cat, humming a parody of the noise the older dragons had been making. Although Richard understood nothing of what had happened, suddenly the baby dragon in front of him was the most important thing in the world. He didn't see how this could be, as his mission was, after all, to kill the dragon.

Kalaruth creeled in alarm, his faceted eyes flashing orange in alarm, and Richard soothed him quickly.

_Don't be ridiculous. As if I could ever hurt you, Kalaruth, _he reassured the hissing dragonet, whose eyes quickly changed from orange back to red. Richard found himself captivated by the whirring facets, until Kalaruth jolted him back to himself.

_I'm hungry, _the hatchling complained. V'dor tapped Richard on the arm, and when the knight looked up, indicated the women standing outside the entrance of the cavern, where other dragonets tore into the bowls of meat provided. Kalaruth made a funny blowing sound of delight and bounded off towards the food, Richard following behind, his hands still loosely clenching the reins of his horse, who looked almost as baffled as the knight at the strange turn of events.

---

**Disclaimer: I don't own Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern.**

**Please don't favourite without leaving a review, thanks.**


	2. Chapter II

**Across the Sky in Stars**

_I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands _

_And wrote my will across the sky in stars._

**-**T.E. Lawrence

**for Kitsuneko**

---

**Chapter II**

"_Change the colours of the sky,_

_And open up to the ways you make me feel alive."_

- What About Now, Daughtry

---

Richard followed the others down to the lake, his head spinning so fast he couldn't think at all. Kalaruth's full belly bulged as he pottered after the other dragonets, and Richard found himself just staring at the little creature, unable to believe that such a magnificent beast belonged to him.

He had been ordered to leave his armour and horse with one of the servants, which V'dor called a 'drudge', and felt exposed in only a tunic and soft leather pants. He had demanded to keep his sword, as its weight was reassuring to him. He sensed another person fall into step beside him, and glanced up to see the girl who had been standing for the queen, V'dor's daughter.

"Congratulations," she offered shyly as she gestured towards Kalaruth. "What's his name?"

"Kalaruth." Richard said, impatiently flicking his brown hair out of his eyes. "Congratulations to you, too. What's her name?" He indicated the small golden queen marching along in front of them, turning to regard Kalaruth with what appeared to be a sceptical eye, and hissing when he looked at her. Kalaruth blew out in shock and scurried back towards Richard, scratching at his feet.

Richard, to the laughs of the girl, was forced to pick him up and carry him.

"You wimp, Kalaruth," he admonished as she giggled and the dragonet settled down.

_She scares me, _the bronze one admitted, hiding his face in Richard's shoulder.

"The terror is Arlenth," the girl said, caressing the gold dragonet's head as the queen dropped back to walk beside her rider. "And I'm Xanti. It's nice to meet you," she added, her shyness appearing to re-emerge. Richard held out his hand to her, having to shift Kalaruth's awkward weight around in his arms.

"Richard," he said, and smiled down at her as she took his hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it, attempting to bow slightly but getting tangled up in Kalaruth. Xanti laughed in delight as the dragon fell to the ground in an ungainly heap, the rider only just managing to stay upright himself.

"Horses are easier," he groaned as he regained his balance, Kalaruth snorting in disgust and stamping off to the lake, giving Arlenth a wide berth. Xanti covered her mouth with her hand, laughter dancing in her eyes.

"Do they stay like this?" Richard asked, looking worried.

"No, he'll grow up and then he'll be so big you'll wish he'd stayed like this!"

Richard laughed. "So you've lived here all your life?"

"I have. My father's weyrleader here at Fort, and he and my mother have sort of been preparing me to Impress gold since I was about five. I dread to think what would have happened if Arlenth hadn't picked me."

"I know this is a horribly rude question to ask a woman, but how old are you? Feel free to ignore me if I've crossed a line somewhere."

She grinned up at him. "I don't mind at all. I've sixteen Turns. And yourself?"

"Nineteen," he replied absently, wondering what on Earth 'turns' were.

"Oh, we're here," she told him suddenly as they arrived at the water's edge, the other dragonets already gathered around a stout man who introduced himself as the weyrlingmaster.

Richard found the next few weeks of his life the most hectic and confusing yet. He and Kalaruth were lodged with the other weyrlings, but while the others went to classes in either healing or another profession deemed important for them to learn, Richard received lessons from the musician – whom he must remember was called a harper – in the history and set-up of Pern. He had to learn what every tiny child knew, and fast. Then he had to re-join the others of his hatching and learn things such as how to avoid threadscore and how to wash Kalaruth correctly.

The bronze dragon was the only steady point in Richard's life. He found the change of lifestyle bemusing to say the least, and he was able to cope only because as a youngster he'd been to the French courts and various British ones, and knew that the best way to become a part of a society was to stay quiet and pick up as much information as you could. As such, he spent a great deal of time in the evenings after classes ended talking to the other boys that had Impressed, and learning everything he could about Pern.

To Richard, some lessons were fascinating, and others were pointless. He had been informed that Thread was now a thing of the past, not having been seen for a hundred Turns and never coming back, and as such he could not understand why the weyrlings were still required to be taught evasive and complicated manoeuvres that they would only ever need to use during Threadfall. He paid enough attention, but his mind wandered, and most of the time he conversed with Kalaruth.

He had never been so close to another being, and found the dragon endlessly fascinating. Kalaruth had a wicked sense of humour, and often made Richard laugh with his observations of the others in his class. The only one Kalaruth never dared mock was Xanti, the queenrider, because Kalaruth was absolutely terrified of Arlenth, who seemed to have picked him as her pet project to 'improve'.

Richard often found himself standing next to Xanti as their dragons bickered, and found himself forming a better relationship with her than any of the others. She was completely captivated by Richard's stories of England, and while he privately doubted that she believed them, she demanded stories of his battles and tournaments. He had been forbidden of talking about his homeland by V'dor and two or three other bronze riders, who worried that other riders would be tempted to visit this 'new land' for themselves. However, Richard thought that no harm could come of talking about England to the weyrleader's daughter.

"Tell me about Agincourt," she said one day after she found him by the lake watching Arlenth push Kalaruth around. At first Xanti had been distressed that her dragon seemed to enjoy bullying Kalaruth so much, but after Richard had reassured her that the bronze one secretly quite enjoyed the queen's interest, and that it did him good to learn to stand up for herself, she had let it slide.

"Agincourt? Where did you hear about that?" he asked, turning his attention from the dragons to her. Her hair was tied back, but a few loose tendrils had escaped to frame her face, and she pushed them back irritably.

"You mentioned it when you talked about France. You said it was England's proudest moment."

He laughed. "Yes, we English are absurdly proud of our victory at Agincourt. It basically boils down to the fact that the English, with a force of archers comparably to the size of a flea against a gold dragon, managed to beat the French into oblivion. It was long before my time, of course, but the bards still love to sing about it."

Xanti smiled dreamily, and Richard for the first time noticed how green her eyes shone in the moonlight.

"It's all so romantic. I should love to see England one day. It's like something out of a fairy story."

He laughed. "Have you been at the fellis again?"

She chuckled and slapped him lightly on the arm. "You're really becoming one of us," she informed him. "You've slipped into talking like us so easily."

"Well, I've got to fit in, don't I? For Kalaruth? And speak of the devil …"

_I'm hungry, _Kalaruth announced as he exited the water, Arlenth behind him humming in agreement.

_You ate two hours ago! _Richard protested, reaching up to rub the dragon's headknobs. Kalaruth had almost tripled in size since his hatching, and his shoulder was now about level with Richard's.

_Well, I'm hungry now, _Kalaruth insisted petulantly, and Richard sighed.

_Then you'll just have to wait until breakfast like everyone else. _

Richard was forced to assume that Arlenth had interjected at this point, because Kalaruth turned his attention away from Richard and began conducting a conversation with her.

_No, I don't care. I'm hungry again – no, just because _you're _not hungry doesn't mean … no!_

"Kal, show the queen more respect," Richard ordered with a laugh. Xanti beamed.

"They're so funny – they remind me of little children."

"Why d'you think he doesn't respect her as much as the others do?" Richard inquired. This question had been bouncing around his head for a while now, ever since Xanti had commented that Kalaruth was the only member of the clutch that answered back to the queen.

"He probably picks up on our friendship. Dragons tend to form attachments like their riders, so because I'm friendly with you Arlenth views Kal as her friend, and so she doesn't care as much when he fights back."

"Well, at this rate he'll end up castrated or something," Richard muttered, moving forward to interpose himself between the bronze and the queen, who seemed to be working themselves up into something big.

_C'mon, Kal, let's go to bed, _he suggested, hustling his dragon away from Arlenth, who hummed happily as Xanti stepped up to caress her eye ridges. Kalaruth bounded ahead, and Arlenth followed him quickly, leaving Xanti to walk with Richard.

"So, how's it coming with the name?" she asked as they wandered side-by-side up to the weyrling barracks.

"Name?" he repeated, briefly confused. "Oh, you mean the contraction? Well, Kalaruth has started calling me R'har, so I guess I'm stuck with that."

"R'har. I like it. It's got a sort of ring to it."

"Well, I'm glad you approve," he said sarcastically, and she laughed and elbowed him in the ribs.

_Kiss-ass, _Kalaruth interjected from up ahead, and R'har laughed and threw a pebble at him.

"That dragon," Xanti said, shaking her head in exasperation. R'har chuckled.

"Well, I can't say I'm ever bored," he told her.

They parted once they reached the barracks, and R'har followed Kalaruth to his cot.

The next morning, the weyrlingmaster announced that they were all finally moving up into the main weyr, and gave them an hour to pack all their things. R'har's didn't take long, as all he had was his sword, the clothes he'd arrived in and the other clothes that had been given to him by the headwoman, Birta. He was shown into his new room, which was very spacious compared to the weyrling barracks, which had become somewhat cramped of late with all the rapidly-growing dragonets.

Kalaruth appeared on the ledge, having flown up, and joined R'har in inspecting every nook and cranny of the room.

_Not bad, _he said finally, and flopped down onto the couch that had been hollowed out by generations of dragons before him.

_Does your highness approve? _R'har asked laughingly, poking the dragon's shoulder.

_Well, it's alright. Of course, it could be improved with some colourful wall hangings, maybe a pretty little green dragon sleeping next to me and Xanti in your bed, _Kalaruth announced with his draconic chuckle. R'har threw a pillow at him.

_Grow up, Kal, _he laughed.

_Don't deny that you like her, _the dragon said, casually ripping the pillow that R'har had thrown in two. _Ooh, that tickles, _he declared in surprise as feathers puffed out and went up his nose. R'har couldn't help but laugh.

_I won't deny it if you don't deny that you like Arlenth, _he countered, and Kalaruth paused.

_She's a queen dragon, and I'm a bronze. You do the maths, R'har. _

"Lessons in life from your dragon," R'har sighed. Kalaruth showed all his teeth in his very own smile, and R'har laughed and fell backwards onto the bed as Kalaruth carried on shredding the pillow.

The next morning, R'har was washing Kalaruth with the help of several fire lizards when a child from the kitchens came bounding towards him.

"D'teran says you're to report for helmet fitting," the child announced, his expression indicating that the weyrlingmaster wasn't in a mood to be delayed today. R'har sent Kalaruth to rinse off quickly, and then ordered him up to the fire-heights to sunbathe.

_I can't have you getting in any trouble now, can I?_

_Who, me? _Kalaruth feigned astonishment. _Never!_

R'har laughed and with a pat on his forearm sent him on his way, then accompanied the child up to the weyr proper.

"So, where do you come from?" the boy asked suddenly, and R'har smiled easily.

"Paradise River Hold," he said. This was a lie he'd agreed long ago with the weyrleaders, and the occupants of the hold had been told also to lie and say he was one of them if anyone asked.

"Oh. I've lived here all my life," the child chattered, walking closer to R'har now. "My mum's a healer and my dad's a brownrider."

"That's nice. It must be fascinating to grow up with dragons like that."

The conversation continued until they reached the room where D'teran was waiting with several other weyrlings, who all looked uncomfortable with the weyrlingmaster in such a bad mood. R'har caught sight of Xanti and crossed the room to stand next to her.

_Arlenth says that Xanti says to watch your words today, the man is in a really foul mood, _Kalaruth said suddenly, and R'har winked down at Xanti to show he'd got the message. She grinned impishly back and then they turned their attention back to the weyrlingmaster quickly as he began to speak about the helmets and how important it was to always wear them, and check and re-check they were still in order.

_Ow! _Kalaruth shouted suddenly in R'har's head, and he jumped slightly.

_What happened, Kal?_

_I stood on Arlenth's tail by mistake and she bit me, _he said, and he sounded so forlorn that R'har didn't know whether to laugh or be worried.

"It's okay," Xanti whispered quietly into R'har's ear. "Arlenth says she only nipped him – it barely broke the skin."

"Will you apologise to Arlenth for me?" R'har whispered back, an Xanti grinned and turned her attention to her dragon.

_I'm not sorry, _Kalaruth grumbled, and R'har could sense him settling down on the sun-warmed rock.

_I am. It wouldn't do to make an enemy of the queen so early on, would it?_

_She _bit _me! I only stood on her head by accident!_

_I thought you said it was her tail? _R'har chuckled to himself as Kalaruth tried to regather the shreds of his argument.

_In that case, Kal, you deserve a bite, _he told his dragon, who grumbled as he shut his eyes and tried to sleep.

"R'har, would you care to explain what's so funny to the rest of us?" D'teran said suddenly from the front of the class, and R'har reddened.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's just that Kalaruth accidentally stood on Arlenth, and he was complaining to me because she retaliated."

The weyrlingmaster rolled his eyes, and carried on with the lesson. Next to R'har, he could feel Xanti shaking with silent laughter.

Once they had been dismissed to take an hour for lunch, R'har fell into step beside Xanti, who was still giggling.

"That dragon of yours," she murmured, linking her arm through his. He laughed.

"He gets himself into so much trouble simply because he's Kal," R'har agreed.

"I think Arlenth's quite fond of him, even if she does give him such a hard time."

"I'm sure he likes her too, despite the fact his every action seems calculated to annoy her."

Xanti snorted. "Not his _every _action. Some of them are designed to annoy you."

He laughed at that, and they took seats at a table among some of the other weyrlings, who were moaning about D'teran's temper in the last lesson. R'har and Xanti joined in quickly, relieved because their dragons both appeared to have fallen asleep.

That afternoon, when Kalaruth finally woke up, he stretched in the sunlight and blinked, focusing his eyes. Arlenth was curled up next to him, fast asleep, and he picked his way past her carefully so as not to induce a repeat of the morning. He plummeted into flight off the heights, and caught a thermal. From R'har, he caught a fleeting impression of desks and a man writing things on a board, which R'har was attempting to store in his head.

_Boring, _Kalaruth decided, and rolled over a couple of times in the air, flaring idly to hover briefly as he watched a supply train of runnerbeasts leave the weyr and head off the down the road. He watched its slow progress, and then, noticing several green dragons by the lake, went into full show-off mode. He folded his wings in a dived straight towards the water, plunging through the air like an arrow.

He hit the water fast, sending up an almighty splash, and a mini-tsunami sped towards the shore. His head popped above the water, and feeling very pleased with himself, and paddled around self-importantly. The green dragons were watching him with a mixture of surprise and contempt.

By the time R'har finished his lessons, Kalaruth was bored of swimming and had headed back to their shared weyr. R'har arrived soon after him, puffing after climbing the stairs, and flopped onto the bed. Kalaruth poked his head through the archway that divided the sleeping-room from the other part of the weyr, and blew over R'har's face.

"Ew, Kal, your breath stinks," he complained, wafting a hand under his nose. Kalaruth grinned.

_Good day?_

"Until you got me in trouble with the weyrlingmaster."

_It's not my fault she bit me! Look!_

Kalaruth angled himself and presented R'har with an expanse of gleaming bronze hide.

_Kal, I don't see anything, _he said.

_Look closer – it's really bad, _Kalaruth insisted, and when R'har was so close he almost had his nose pressed against Kalaruth's belly, he saw a tiny graze, already clotted over.

_You are _such _a drama queen! _R'har exclaimed, and Kalaruth grumbled and curled up with his head in the corner and his back facing his rider.

"Oh, c'mon, you're not sulking?"

_Go away, _Kalaruth said, and R'har laughed. Deciding to leave the dragon to it, he left the room and shut the door behind himself. He headed off up the stairs, and wandered aimlessly for a while, and then had an idea.

_Hey, Kal, if you're done sulking, could you be an angel and point me in the direction of Xanti's weyr?_

_You don't want to do that, _Kalaruth replied, obviously over his strop. _You know what the weyrlingmaster's always saying about not starting a relationship with someone until I'm old enough._

_Shut up, _R'har ordered amiably. _You know we're only friends._

With a mumble about denial, Kalaruth guided R'har to Xanti and Arlenth's weyr. He knocked on the door and waited a moment until the door was flung open and Xanti appeared.

"Oh, R'har!" she exclaimed happily. "I was worried you were B'wel. He's been trying to persuade me to go 'for a walk' with him," she explained, ushering R'har in and shutting the door behind him. "And no matter how much I tell him there's no way I'd compromise Arlenth, he keeps pestering me."

R'har sat down at one of the seats at her table and gazed around.

"You want me to go hit him for you?" he asked, and she laughed.

"No, it's fine."

"You know, your weyr is a lot nicer than mine," he commented, and she chuckled.

"Well, you'll just have to really suck up to me so Kal can fly Arlenth and you can come share with me."

He laughed and reached for a redfruit, twisting it in his hands.

"So, I finally memorised all weyrs in order today," he announced, biting into the fruit. Xanti grinned and sat down opposite him.

"Go on then, amaze me."

"Okay. So, Fort was first, then Benden – named for Admiral Paul Benden," he added with a wink, "then High Reaches, Igen, Ista, Telgar, Southern, Monaco Bay, and Honshu last, which isn't really a proper weyr at all. How's that?" he asked, looking pleased with himself. Xanti clapped.

"Very good. Now do the holds."

He looked horror-struck, and she laughed. "Don't worry, even I don't know them in order properly."

"Well, that's a relief. So, what do you and Arlenth get up to while I'm learning all this 'invaluable history'?" he inquired, mimicking his teacher's voice.

"I have to learn about the traditional duties of a weyrwoman, and how to use the record rooms, and all that sort of thing. Arlenth just gets to sleep for a lot of the time."

"So does Kal. I think it's highly unfair. But, on the other hand, I prefer him asleep than causing mischief where I can't see him."

They both experienced a moment of total panic imagining what the bronze dragon would get up to if left completely unattended, and then started laughing.

"Thank goodness you're here to introduce some common sense to him," Xanti said, patting R'har on the arm. He grinned in agreement, and then stood.

"So, you want to go get some dinner? I don't know about you, but hours of mental wrestling with weyr names really gives me an appetite."

---


	3. Chapter III

**Across the Sky in Stars**

_I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands  
And wrote my will across the sky in stars.  
_**-**T.E. Lawrence

**for Kitsuneko**

---

**Chapter III**

"_There now, steady love, so few come and don't go  
Will you, won't you, be the one I'll always know_?"

– Look After You, The Fray

---

By the time Kalaruth attained his full growth he was over a year and half old. However, he continued to be a source of constant mischief, and R'har seemed to always be in trouble for something Kalaruth had said or done. Now almost totally at ease in Pernese society, R'har had been sent with the bronze dragon to Ruatha on Search with his wing for the newest queen egg and the rest of the clutch that lay hardening on the ground. Queen eggs were rare, an becoming rarer as Thread receded even further into the past, and so R'har was anxious to find a good candidate. However, this was the first time he and Kalaruth had been sent out on Search, so it was doubtful that the bronze dragon would prove to be a good Searcher.

_Relax, R'har, _Kalaruth sighed as he and the other dragons spiralled down towards the Hold. _They're just a bunch of holders. So what if I don't find a good candidate? We'll just eat and then leave, no-one will care._

_Kal, all you care about is your stomach._

_Now that's not true, _the bronze one protested as he landed agilely in the courtyard. _I care about my baths, too._

R'har laughed and slid from his shoulder to the ground. The Lord Holder, Jarmenal, rushed to welcome their wingleader. R'har waited boredly for the interminable greetings to end, and was constantly elbowing Kalaruth in the leg in an attempt to prevent him making his rider laugh.

Eventually, A'rur was done talking to Jarmenal, and a slow line of children, younger and older, filed out of the Hold, some skidding eagerly into place, others sidling more warily into the line.

_See anyone promising, Kal? _R'har asked, resting a hand on his dragon's foot.

_Three in from the left. She's pretty, isn't she?_

R'har looked and concluded that she was, indeed, pretty.

_Would she make a good rider, though?_

_Who cares? Take her anyway and you'll have someone to share your weyr with._

R'har had no compunctions in slapping the dragon.

_Shut up and focus, you fool, _he ordered, with absolutely no doubts that the dragon wouldn't pay him the slightest bit of attention.

_Oh, that's right, _Kalaruth said, idly scratching his nose against the ground. _Xanti's your one and only._

R'har hit him again. _Shells, Kal, for the last time we're just _friends. _Just like you and Arlenth._

The dragon hummed in a superior way, and R'har gave up, sitting on his dragon's foot and putting his head into his hands.

_I despair of you, _he said, and Kalaruth rumbled with laughter. The point of Arlenth and Kalaruth's friendship was a somewhat strange one. Many dragons, of course, took partners for life and were very close to them, but weyrfolk were unsure of whether it was usual for dragons to form friendships before mating, like Arlenth and Kalaruth. For example, there was no guarantee that Kalaruth would catch Arlenth when she flew, but the two were nonetheless firm friends, despite their frequent disagreements.

Kalaruth always just shrugged when R'har asked him about it. _I like her. She's my friend, _was the only reply R'har ever received, and he was forced to give up. He and Xanti had eventually decided that the dragons were merely reflecting their own close friendship, and simply enjoyed the amusement the two dragons provided.

Kalaruth disturbed R'har from his thoughts by poking him with his nose.

_Elsbeth has found five, _he declared, and R'har looked over to where the green dragon stood, looking pleased with herself. R'har waved his arm to catch her rider's attention and indicated that he could take a couple of candidates if she needed him to. The rider nodded back, and two forms detached themselves from the group and made their way towards them.

_The one on the left looks like a wher, _Kalaruth commented, and R'har smacked him. The child, on coming closer, was proved to slightly resemble a wher. His eyes were wide-set and protruding, and his mouth was sloped grumpily downwards into an ugly grimace.

"Hi," R'har greeted them amiably, warning Kalaruth to keep his mouth shut. "I'm R'har, and this is Kalaruth. Have either of you ridden a-dragonback before?"

The boy nodded, but the girl on the right shook her head. She looked absolutely terrified. R'har directed his words at her, as the boy was beginning to irritate him a little with his insolent arrogance.

"Okay, well I'll get P'nesol to come and give you a boost up, okay? Then you just sit behind me and hang tight. The young man can sit behind you, as he apparently knows what he's doing."

The boy glared at him, and as R'har told Kalaruth to ask Jumath to get his friend P'nesol, he led the pair towards the saddle, Kalaruth craning his neck round to watch. R'har jumped quickly from foreleg to saddle, catching at the straps and pulling himself up. P'nesol appeared quickly, his brown Jumath watching with evident enjoyment as his rider easily lifted the girl up, and then struggled with the boy.

As P'nesol heaved and pushed in an attempt to get the boy into the saddle, R'har strapped the girl into the safety harness.

"What's your name?" he inquired as he made sure the straps were secure.

"Ellera," she said quietly, looking quite terrified.

_R'har, she's listening to me! _Kalaruth announced in shock, and R'har searched the girl's face keenly.

"You can hear Kal?"

She nodded and looked even more scared. "Is that normal? I never told anyone," she whispered, and R'har beamed.

"No, but it's very special. That's amazing, I can't believe me and Kal got lucky enough to ferry you to the weyr!"

She blushed and looked pleased, and R'har decided she couldn't be more than fourteen or fifteen turns. Kalaruth oomphed in disgust as the boy plonked himself down in the saddle behind Ellera, grabbing on around her waist. She gasped quietly, and R'har turned back around.

"Loosen your grip a little, lad, we wouldn't want to crush the lady."

_What an ass, _Kalaruth commented, eyeballing the boy, and Ellera giggled behind her hand.

_Kalaruth, I've told you not to use that word. It's not a Pernese one, remember?_

_I can't help it – you think it a lot._

_Well, people back in England used it a lot. It means a type of equine, remember? And it's not nice to describe people as stubborn and rude._

_But he is, _Kalaruth pointed out validly, and R'har gave up.

_Fine. Just watch your mouth, there's a little lady who can hear everything you say, remember?_

Kalaruth sighed and turned his head back around to wait for the signal to take off.

R'har turned back to his passengers, talking to Ellera more than the boy.

"Okay, hold on tight – to my belt, that's it – and remember to take a deep breath before we go _between_!"

Her hands fastened around his thick belt, and Kalaruth crouched, then leapt into flight with a neck-snapping action.

_Weren't we working on making those smoother? _R'har inquired, and Kalaruth growled apologetically.

"Okay, take a deep breath!" R'har yelled, and pictured Fort Weyr in his mind. They hung in complete and total nothingness for three seconds, and then burst into the sunlight above Fort. Kalaruth circled down slowly. A glinting, golden figure on the fire-heights bugled at him, and he bellowed back in response.

_Arlenth, _he said by way of explanation to R'har, and then concentrated on landing more gently than he had taken off. As soon as R'har helped his passengers down, he crossed the bowl to find A'rur, his wingleader.

"A'rur?" he asked, and the older bronze rider turned to him.

"Yes?"

"The girl I carried can hear dragons. I thought you'd be the best person to get a message to V'dor and Kamella."

A'rur looked like he was about to burst with excitement. "Thanks, R'har!" he called as he dashed off up the stairs, leaving his dragon staring after him in mild surprise.

_R'har, Xanti's here, _Kalaruth said, and R'har bolted back to his dragon's side.

_Yeah, you're so just friends with her, _the dragon told him sarcastically, and R'har didn't even bother summoning the energy to hit him. He reached Xanti and picked her up, twirling her around into a hug. She laughed.

"It's only been two weeks, R'har," she said, but her arms went round him anyway and she hugged him back.

"Well, I'm sick of listening to this great bronze fool moon after Arlenth," he replied, putting an arm around her shoulders as they headed up the stairs to the dining cavern.

_What a foolish thing to say when I could squish you like a bug if I wanted, _Kalaruth said, projecting his thoughts to Xanti as well, who laughed hugely.

"Wow, I've missed your company – both of you."

_For that, I won't squish you, _Kalaruth declared, and R'har waved a fist at his dragon, who regarded the pair from below them in the bowl. Kalaruth just snorted in derision and leapt into the sky, heading for the fire-heights to find Arlenth.

"So how was your time down at Honshu? What were you doing down there again?"

She grinned. "I was learning star patterns and using their big observatory. And I had a really good time, thank you. What have you been up to here without me?"

"Being bored and lonely," R'har replied, and she laughed.

"That's all?"

"Oh, well, we've been taking messages back and forth and also invitations for the Hatching, when it comes. Actually, we just lucked out and picked up a candidate who can hear all the dragons!"

"All of them?" Xanti asked in surprise.

"No, just the greens. Of course all of them, you idiot," he laughed, and she elbowed him in the ribs.

"Be nice, I haven't seen you for two weeks."

They entered the dining cavern and grabbed a table, sitting slightly to one side of the room, eating their meal slowly, just enjoying the other's company.

"So, how long do you think now?" R'har asked eventually, toying with his spoon.

"I don't know. Arlenth hasn't been showing many signs, but Kal keeps telling me she's even more short-tempered with him than usual, which means she must be starting to be ready."

They had had the discussion over when Arlenth would rise for the first time many times before this, usually from a jokey perspective, but it was starting to get more serious, as Arlenth was the right age for her first flight now. R'har never dared broach the subject of what would happen if Kal _did _catch Arlenth, and neither did Xanti.

"Imagine if after all this Galuth caught her," R'har said with a laugh, and Xanti shuddered.

"Ew, imagine me being stuck in a bed with _T'drel. _He's so old and … such an ass!"

"Not you too," R'har groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

"What?"

"Calling people asses. Kal's doing it too, and I'm sure I'll get in trouble if people start wondering where the word came from."

Xanti patted his hands sympathetically. "R'har, you're _always _in trouble."

"It's that bloody dragon!" he protested, and Xanti laughed as Kalaruth briefly entered the conversation.

_Again, I could squish you like a bug._

"Oh, go away," R'har muttered, and Xanti clutched her sides with mirth.

"Oh, the pair of you," she gasped, wiping away a tear of laughter.

They finished their dinner and headed up to R'har's weyr to sit and talk for a while longer.

R'har woke up the next morning with Xanti fast asleep next to him, on top of the covers with her head resting on his arm and her beautiful hair spread out across the pillow. As he watched her face, her eyes blinked open sleepily and her green stared into his grey. Before he realised what was happening she had reached up and kissed him, and with a great swell of relief and joy he kissed her back, parting her lips and running his hands through her hair to press her closer to him.

"Wait, no, stop," she gasped suddenly, her hands moving from his hair to his chest, pushing against him. "I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry, I can't compromise Arlenth, not this close to her first mating."

He sighed and dragged a hand across his face, sitting up and getting off the bed.

"I understand," he told her shortly, and when he glanced at her she looked as forlorn as he felt.

"Wait, I'm sorry," he said, moving round to her side of the bed and sitting down, hugging her close to him, cradling her against his chest. "I do understand, I was just being a hormonal, sex-driven man," he apologised, trying to make her laugh. It worked a little, because she giggled softly, and then started to cry.

"Hey, now," he said, clutching her closer, wiping her tears away with his fingers. "What's the matter?"

"It's just so scary," she told him honestly, pressing her face against his tunic. "The thought that it might not be you, that someone other than Kal will catch 'Lenth, that I'll end up with T'drel, and I don't think I could bear that."

He rocked her gently. He didn't know how to reassure her. Because, after all, Kalaruth and Arlenth's close relationship would help him in chasing her, but he was average size for a bronze, and there were some truly huge beasts here at Fort, who would outlast him in stamina and speed.

He just soothed her softly, humming to her, until Kalaruth woke up and looked over at them, gathering the situation quickly from R'har's memories.

_I promise, Xanti, that I'll try as hard as I can to catch Arlenth, _the dragon swore, and Xanti smiled bravely at him.

"Thank you," she said, and with a soft kiss on the cheek for R'har, she left their weyr, hurrying back to Arlenth.

R'har fell backwards onto the bed and groaned.

"Kal, you better catch Arlenth, or I don't know what I'll do."

The dragon chuckled. _You'll make Xanti yours anyway. I know you will, you hormonal ass._

R'har threw a pillow at him. Kalaruth, who had learned that breathing in feathers by mistake could result in a sneeze later whilst firestoning, wisely ignored it and went back to sleep.

For the next week, Arlenth grew more and more irritable, and R'har knew most of the bronzeriders were waiting with bated breath for the moment she rose. There were four junior queens at Fort, and Arlenth was not only the youngest but had the prettiest rider, so their interest was doubled. R'har glared at them as they came up to Xanti when he was with her, asking her how long she thought it would be. She sent them away, patiently at first, but more angrily as time progressed.

"I'll hit him if you like," R'har said through gritted teeth as she sent T'drel away for the third time in as many hours. Xanti laughed tiredly – the stress of worrying had gotten to her, and R'har often went to find her in the morning and discovered her asleep at her dragon's side, curled against her belly.

"No, it's okay. She's asleep at the moment anyway – it's easier because she's not being all vituperative at everything and everyone."

"Even Kal's on edge, and I didn't think anything could ruffle him," R'har commented.

"Is he asleep too?"

"He is indeed, the lazy ass."

"You know, you shouldn't scold him for using that word when you use it just as much as he does."

"Ah, but he's asleep now, so it doesn't matter."

R'har was wrong. As he finished his sentence, Kalaruth was suddenly instantly, blindingly awake, and voraciously hungry.

"Shards," R'har exclaimed, and taking Xanti by the hand, dragged her with him out of the hall with such force she nearly fell.

"What is it?" she cried as he pulled her towards the feeding grounds with him, seeing the other queen riders run past, pulling on their flying gear, and not understanding at once.

"Kal's blooding his kill! Arlenth's going to rise, Xanti," he said, turning towards her with such urgency in his voice she looked momentarily overwhelmed.

"Not now," she begged quietly, and R'har met her eyes with such sympathy and understanding and determination that she wanted to cry. They burst onto the edge of the hatching ground, and the other bronze riders immediately moved to encircle Xanti, their dragons crouched, waiting for the queen to appear. R'har released her hand, but she clutched at it.

"Don't leave me," she pleaded, but he just shook his head.

"I must, Xanti," he told her firmly, and she shook with despair as Arlenth awoke. In the circle, R'har watched her, brilliantly aware of Kalaruth behind him, waiting on tenterhooks, the hot blood churning in his belly.

_No matter what, I love you, my friend, _R'har said as Arlenth appeared overhead, pouncing immediately on a herdbeast, glowing like sunshine.

_And I, you, _Kalaruth said, and then Arlenth was flying, and R'har was no longer himself. He rose with Kalaruth, the two of them beating shared wings and lashing a shared tail. Kalaruth-R'har watched Arlenth in front of them as she dived, twisted and turned among the clouds, flirting with them leisurely, queen of the skies.

R'har got brief flashes of himself, saw the other riders groping at Xanti as she swayed, her mouth open, eyes glazed, caught up totally in the sensations of the flight. Somehow R'har managed to keep himself severed from Kalaruth long enough to move himself between Xanti and the others, and then he was lost again.

Kalaruth-R'har was exhausted, wings beating drunkenly, and ahead Arlenth was tired, too. She glanced back and saw her remaining four pursuers, and dropped back a little. With a cry of relief, Kalaruth-R'har saw that she was in touching difference, and he was reaching out to her, and she was gazing at him, wanting him, and then suddenly another body slammed into his and he tumbled downwards a long way before he caught himself, flaring tired wings, and was forced to watch in total despair as Kamorth twined his neck with Arlenth's and plummeted earthwards with her.

R'har slammed back into himself, tears streaming down his face as he found himself leaning against the wall of Xanti's weyr, her cries and that of another echoing from her sleeping room.

There were no words for the grief he felt, and he couldn't listen any more, so he ran, ran out and away and into the darkness. He somehow made his way to his weyr, and arrived just as Kalaruth staggered on to the ledge. R'har made his way over to the dragon, hugging him tightly around the neck.

_Oh, Kal, _he whispered, and the dragon's heartbreak was almost worse than his own.

---


	4. Chapter IV

**Across the Sky in Stars**

_I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands  
__And wrote my will across the sky in stars._

**-**T.E. Lawrence

**for Kitsuneko**

---

**Chapter IV**

"_Hold you in my arms  
I just wanted to hold  
You in my arms."_

- Starlight, Muse

---

R'har lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, drowning inside his grief. Kalaruth had snaked his head through the archway to rest on the bed next to R'har, and the rider caressed his dragon's eye ridges gently as they took comfort from each other.

The door flew open suddenly, smashing against the wall, and R'har bolted upright to see Xanti standing there, a sheet wrapped around herself, her hair wild and her face smudged with tears. R'har opened his arms without a word and she ran to him, nestling into his arms and sobbing against his chest. Kalaruth nuzzled her back gently, breathing into her hair, and she rested a hand on his snout, gripping it firmly as she cried.

R'har let her stain his tunic with tears, and murmured softly in her ear. Then he caught sight of faintly forming bruises on her wrists, and grabbed them both.

"Ow, R'har!" she protested, snatching them back. He took her by the shoulders.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, almost voicelessly, his teeth gritted with rage. Beside him, Kalaruth's eyes were flashing orange and red with anger and promised violence, and Xanti stared up at him, her green eyes bloodshot.

"I'redul. When I separated from Arlenth I realised it wasn't you, and that didn't seem right so I tried to get away, but he just grabbed me and forced me … but it wasn't his fault, it was because of the dragons!" she protested at the last, clutching futilely at his tunic as he stormed out of the door, muttering oaths.

With a curse, she searched around quickly, until Kalaruth grabbed a spare tunic off the floor with his teeth and tossed it at her. With a word of thanks she struggled into it, it hanging almost down to her knees, and shot out of the door after R'har.

"R'har, stop!" she cried, catching sight of his back up ahead of her, and put on an almighty burst of speed, catching up to him just as he reached her weyr. He ignored her and strode inside, marching up to the bed where the oblivious I'redul lay, fast asleep. In the next room, Arlenth had jolted awake, and was watching with evident curiosity as her rider grabbed R'har by the arm and planted her feet, rendering him unable to swing a blow at I'redul.

"R'har, stop it," she commanded firmly.

"Xanti, how can I let him get away with doing this to you?" he demanded wildly, grabbing at her wrists to examine them again.

"It's not his fault, it was the dragons!" she protested again, and R'har growled.

"I'm still going to knock his head off."

"Look, I know you're angry and upset and, believe me, I am too, but it's really not his fault. Please, just look at me, and calm down."

She grabbed his chin and forced his eyes to meet hers. He sighed, seeming to relax, and she encircled his neck with her arms and reached up to kiss him. He felt her meld her body against his, and sighed softly against her lips.

"What is this?" an angry voice demanded from the bed. Xanti didn't even see R'har move, he was so explosively fast, and two seconds later fist connected with face and I'redul was out cold on the bed. R'har turned back to Xanti, chest heaving, blowing on sore knuckles, and she glared at him.

"I'm not sorry," he said determinedly, not quite meeting her gaze. She scowled at him for a few seconds more, but then relented and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, gazing up at him. "No-one's ever done that for me before."

"What, refused to listen to you?"

"No, got into a fight on my behalf. Although, not exactly a fight, because you socked him before he had time to hit you back."

R'har laughed, and hugged her to him. "You're still mine," he told her firmly, and she giggled and snuggled up against him.

"Who else could I stand to be with?"

He lifted her up into his arms and carried her back to his weyr, ready to show her exactly how much she meant to him.

The next morning, he was so completely happy to have her sleeping next to him that he almost couldn't breathe for a moment.

"I love you," he told her as soon as she woke up, and she beamed.

"That's a nice way to start the day," she commented, tousling his hair. "I love you too."

"I'm sorry Kal didn't catch Arlenth," R'har said, glancing to where the sleeping dragon lay.

"Not as sorry as Arlenth is. I had better go, she's going down to the feeding grounds and I want to go with her."

"Me and Kal'll give you a lift down," R'har said, rousing the bronze one as he dressed. "He's hungry too."

Kalaruth yawned like a cat and stretched hugely, waiting impatiently while R'har helped Xanti up onto his shoulders.

_Morning, Xanti, _he said to her, and Xanti smiled.

"Good morning, Kalaruth," she replied, patting his shoulder.

_Hurry up, R'har, _Kalaruth complained, shifting from foot to foot. _I'm fading away down here._

"Kal, you could live off your fat for months."

_It's muscle, not fat._

Xanti laughed at the argument that carried them all the way down to the feeding grounds, where R'har and Xanti dismounted and Kalaruth immediately took down a wherry and started gorging himself on it.

"What table manners," R'har said with a sigh of despair, seating himself on a rock. Xanti chuckled.

"Arlenth's not much better," she commented, pointing in the direction of the gold dragon, who was tearing into a herdbeast.

"Is she okay this morning?" R'har asked.

"Arlenth? Yeah, she's fine. She's disappointed Kal didn't catch her, but you know dragons – what's past is past."

"Oh, to be that way," R'har sighed, pulling Xanti down into his lap. She squealed, and then laughed and kissed him, leaning her head on his shoulder while they waited for the dragons to finish.

"R'har!" an angry voice bellowed at them from the pathway, and R'har leapt to his feet to see V'dor bearing down on them, looking furious.

"I've just received a complaint from I'redul that you launched an unprovoked attack on him, hitting him and leaving him unconscious. And he has a magnificent black eye to prove it."

R'har grimaced. "It wasn't unprovoked, sir. He hurt Xanti."

"He did?" V'dor asked, turning his attention immediately to his daughter. "What did he to you?" he inquired, and she pulled back the long sleeves of R'har's tunic to show the dark purple bruises around her wrists.

"When I tried to push him away he forced himself on me – but it's not totally his fault, it's because of the dragons," she added, trying to be fair.

V'dor looked like he was thinking hard for a moment.

"Right," he said finally. "I think I need another talk with I'redul. However, R'har, physical attacks on another rider are not condoned in any way, and so you will now take watch duty from one until three am. Enjoy."

With that, V'dor turned and stalked away. Xanti turned to stare up at R'har.

"Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yes, fine. Kal's gotten us on the dog watch before, so he owes me one."

The 'dog watch' was the riders' pet name for the watch that R'har had just been assigned, because it was the worst time of night to be awake.

"I'm sorry he was so mad," Xanti said apologetically, reaching her arms around his back.

"It was worth it," R'har muttered mutinously, hugging her back. She chuckled against his chest.

_When you two lovebirds are done, Arlenth and I are going up to the heights to sunbathe, _Kalaruth said, looming over them and casting a shadow.

"Can we get a lift back to the weyr, oh high-and-mighty-one?" R'har inquired, and Kalaruth rumbled his laughter.

_If you keep calling me that, then yes, _he declared, and R'har laughed and scrambled up onto his shoulders as Xanti mounted Arlenth. The two dragons dropped their riders off at their respective weyrs and then headed to the fire-heights to sleep off their huge meal.

R'har discovered over the next few months that, despite Kalaruth not having flown Arlenth, his relationship with Xanti and Kalaruth's with Arlenth's had barely changed. The two dragons were still firm friends, and when Arlenth retired into the hatching ground to lay her first clutch, Kalaruth was the only other dragon she permitted to visit her. In fact, she appeared to summon him from time to time, and Kalaruth willingly went to provide her with entertainment and distraction from the monotony.

V'dor found R'har watching the two dragons lying side by side in the hot sand from a ledge one day.

"It's incredible," the older rider said, seating himself next to R'har. "I don't know a single other queen, alive or on record, who would allow a bronze into the hatching grounds while she has a clutch. Most are fiercely protective of their eggs."

"I've been thinking the same thing," R'har admitted. "But they've been really good friends for such a long time now, my only guess is that for some strange reason, she trusts the old fool."

Kalaruth heard that and glared briefly at R'har, then turned his attention back to the queen.

"It is most unusual, especially since he didn't fly her."

R'har grew silent at that, and V'dor looked slightly uncomfortable and stood to leave. R'har copied him, and the weyrleader grasped him firmly by the shoulder.

"I'm glad it was you my daughter chose. You have a good, strong sense of right and wrong."

R'har was touched. "Thank you, sir. I'm glad – and astonished – that she chose me too."

The older man laughed. "Yes. Anyway, if you can persuade Kalaruth away from Arlenth, we could use some help collecting guests for the hatching."

"Of course," R'har replied, and after a considerable amount of time managed to coerce Kalaruth into leaving Arlenth alone for a couple of hours.

_C'mon, Kal, she'll be fine by herself._

_I know. She doesn't want me to go. _At this point Kalaruth turned back to Arlenth. _The weyrleader wants us to. I won't be long, _he promised her, and she turned a baleful, gently whirring eye on R'har, and for the first time spoke directly to him.

_You had better not keep him from me long, R'har. He is the only distraction from the boredom._

R'har, amazed not only that she spoke to him, but addressed him by name, bowed to her.

"I promise, lady queen," he said, and she snorted. R'har climbed astride Kalaruth's shoulders to be taken back to their weyr. As Kalaruth padded to the edge of the hatching ground, they passed Xanti, who waved and then continued towards her dragon.

_This won't take long, Kal, _he said as the dragon grumbled after dropping a group of chattering holders in the bowl.

"Go to Benden Hold next, please, R'har," A'rur called from across the tumult, and the bronze rider nodded and leapt back into the saddle.

_Why are there so many? _Kalaruth complained as he winged into the sky once more, and R'har chuckled.

_The hatching will be tomorrow, and it's easier to collect some guests now and let them stay overnight, especially as tomorrow will be the middle of the night for some of them._

Kalaruth harrumphed and went _between, _emerging above Ruath Hold and diving for the ground, landing with such force that R'har's neck whipped back from the strength of it.

_You ass, _he grumbled as he dismounted, rubbing his neck, and Kalaruth gave him an innocent look. R'har growled.

_Don't try that on me, you great lump of –_

"Are you from Fort?" a lady interrupted him, and R'har glared one more time at his dragon before turning to the woman and smiling.

"I am. I'm to collect Lord Erilk's group."

She grinned broadly and gestured to two adults standing holding the hands of three children. "Mama, Papa, he's here for us," she called, and the family came over. R'har helped them into the saddle one by one, putting the smallest child in the middle so he was sandwiched between his father and his older sister, who had first addressed R'har.

_Gently, please, Kal, _he begged as he warned the group to hold tight and prepare for going _between._

The dragon mumbled something rude, and then as smoothly as he could leapt into flight. R'har still cricked his neck, but not as badly as last time.

_We really need to work on that, _R'har commented as he pictured Fort Weyr for Kalaruth.

The dragon rumbled in amused agreement, and then everything went black.

_That still scares me, _R'har declared as they came out above Fort and circled down to the bowl. Behind him, the small child was crying with shock and fear.

_Not as much as it scares the little wherry back there, _Kalaruth pointed out, and R'har had to muffle laughter. He dropped the family off with A'rur, and then he and the bronze dragon withdrew to avoid any further fetch-and-carry tasks. He found Xanti sitting on his bed, singing quietly to herself while she ate a redfruit.

"Hello you," he said, picking her up and swinging her round. She laughed, and kissed his cheek, leaving it sticky with redfruit juice.

"I'm so excited for tomorrow I almost can't speak," she announced, giggling, swaying slightly on the spot. R'har leant closer and smelled the alcohol on her breath.

"Xanti, love," he admonished. She hid her face behind her hands, still giggling like a little girl, and R'har rolled his eyes.

"You're going to have an awful hangover tomorrow, and then you'll be sorry," he told her, but this just caused an explosive increase in giggles.

"I've never been drunk before," she announced, suddenly removing her hands from her face and pulling him towards her, her lips fastening onto his with an urgency that surprised him.

The next morning, he awoke to find her groaning and clutching her head.

"I told you so," he declared unsympathetically. From beyond the archway, Kalaruth was coughing his strange draconic chuckles.

"I hate you right now," she said, and flopped out of the bed onto the floor. R'har, repressing laughter, helped her to her feet, into her clothes and then down to the kitchens to find something for her headache. One of the flustered women thrust a cup of medicine at him, and he made sure she drank it right down before ordering her back to her room to get changed into something suitable. She went, grumbling under her breath, and R'har bolted some breakfast before heading back to his room to get dressed into his best.

Watching the hatching, he felt the familiar warm swell as he rested his hand on Kalaruth's shoulder and relived his Impression all over again. The great bronze dragon glanced down at him, and R'har caressed his eye ridges.

_If I ever forget to tell you, _Kalaruth said casually, _You mean everything to me._

R'har scratched an itchy spot for him. _And you to me, _he said, and the dragon blew warm air into his hair, making him laugh, and then they turned back to watch the dragonets Impress. R'har watched Xanti, who was watching Arlenth with such pride in her expression that R'har fought back a wave of longing that Kalaruth caught before he could entirely repress it.

_I wish it was us, too, _the bronze one murmured, and R'har nodded.

"If only," he breathed.

_Next time, _Kalaruth vowed.

The weather grew colder, and R'har was reminded that it was nearing Christmas time back in England. This surprised him, as it had been almost three years since he left England, and he didn't think of it often.

Bearing Christmas in mind, he and Kalaruth went to a gather and R'har prowled the stalls, looking for the perfect gift for Xanti. He knew that the Pernese didn't celebrate Christmas, and while he hadn't bothered for the last one, he felt a sudden desire to give Xanti something that would make her eyes light up and her voice breathless. In the eight months since the hatching of Arlenth's clutch, Xanti and R'har had grown so close they were almost inseparable.

Eventually, R'har found the perfect item. It was a delicate gold chain, from which hung a tiny carving of a dragon, made from an emerald that would match her eyes perfectly. He handed over the marks for it, and took it back to the weyr, hiding it in one of the boots he'd worn out but never thrown away.

He didn't know the exact date, so he took a guess and one morning deep in the cold season, with snow blanketing the ground and turning the world into a fairytale, he shook Xanti awake where she lay next to him in her weyr, Arlenth and Kalaruth slumbering next to each other in the next room.

"What?" she mumbled sleepily, turning over. He held the necklace up.

"Merry Christmas," he announced. Her eyes widened and she reached for the gift reverently, sitting up to examine it better.

"Oh, R'har, it's beautiful," she told him, her eyes shining. He clasped it around her neck, lifting her hair out of the way, and she kissed him lingeringly and suggestively.

"What's Christmas?" she asked a little while later as they recovered their breath.

"It's a celebration from the world I come from. It marks the birth of the son of God, who saved mankind."

"God?"

"A supernatural being who supposedly rules all the world. I'm disinclined to believe in him – I've witnessed enough suffering to undermine my belief. But, hey, I thought dragons were mythical, so who knows?"

She laughed softly. "So, at … Christmas, people give each other gifts?"

He nodded an affirmative, and she took a deep breath. "Well, I don't exactly have a proper gift, but … I'm pregnant."

He stared at her for a long time. "Seriously?" he eventually found the voice to say, and she nodded, her face grave.

"Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed excitedly, picking her up and swinging her round and round. "I'm going to be a father! Kal, Kal, wake up, I'm going to be a dad!"

_That's nice, _Kalaruth said, only half-awake. _Now go back to sleep._

The shock and joy didn't wear off R'har for nearly a month, and then both he and Xanti were walking around in a little world of their own, most of their attention focused on her rapidly expanding belly. However, as Arlenth glowed brighter by the day, Xanti remembered that she was due to rise again.

"Shards, I hope it's you," she said, and R'har smiled.

"Kal and I have got a few tricks up our sleeves this time," he declared, tapping the side of his nose, and she beamed and hugged him. He squeezed her back, feeling the swell of the baby against his stomach, and feeling completely at peace.

Two days later, when R'har was startled awake by Kalaruth's overpowering hunger, he scrambled for his clothes and followed his dragon at a sprint down to the feeding ground.

_Remember, Kal! _He cried, and the dragon growled as he watched Arlenth blood her third kill.

_The thermal, _the dragon confirmed. _Just like Brianth and Mihall! _They had spent a day searching the records, just at random, and had happened upon the diary of one of the founders of Benden Weyr, which detailed the technique he had used to secure the first weyrleadership.

_She will be mine this time, _Kalaruth vowed, his eyes fixed intently on Arlenth, kneading the earth beneath his talons, and R'har was surprised at the depth and determination of his dragon's words. Then Arlenth was aloft, and R'har was Kalaruth. The sensation did not surprise him so much this time, and he felt Kalaruth head straight for one of the rising thermals, which took him high above the other bronzes quickly. They flew powerfully along above Arlenth for some time as she led the others, and then, just at the right moment, as she turned to look over her shoulder and taunt her lovers, Kalaruth-R'har dived for her and locked their talons onto her wing-joints. She wrenched around in surprise, placing herself exactly as he wanted her, and R'har tumbled back into himself as Xanti panted his name into his ear. Smiling, he kissed her long and hard, surrendering himself completely to the feelings.

At last, they had what they wanted.

---


	5. Chapter V

**Across the Sky in Stars**

_I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands  
And wrote my will across the sky in stars._

**-**T.E. Lawrence

**for Kitsuneko**

---

**Chapter V**

"_You want a song of glory?  
Well I'm fucking screaming it at you."  
_- Box Full of Sharp Objects, The Used

---

"I want to visit England," R'har told Xanti one night as they lay together. She was idly rubbing circles on her swollen belly, staring at Kalaruth and Arlenth, who were asleep with their necks twined together.

"Now?"

"Sometime soon, yes," he replied, and she frowned.

"Can't you wait so that I can go with you?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"I don't want to place you in any unnecessary danger, especially as you'll have our baby to consider."

"I want to see England," she argued petulantly.

"I'll take you one day, I promise," he said. "Just let me go once and check it's safe for us, okay?"

She frowned but consented. "Just so long as you promise," she told him, shutting her eyes. He kissed her cheek softly.

"I promise," he whispered, and she smiled.

He worked hard at securing V'dor's permission, but eventually the argument that he needed to see his family and explain to his former king what had happened won the weyrleader over, and he was rather grudgingly granted permission.

The weather was still cold the morning he was due to depart, and his breath puffed out in front of him as he double-checked the straps of Kalaruth's harness. The dragon was shifting anxiously, impatient to be going. He was excited to see with his own eyes the land he had only ever known through R'har's memories.

Xanti and Arlenth had come to see them off, and as R'har and Xanti embraced and exchanged goodbyes Kalaruth twined necks with Arlenth.

"Be safe," Xanti ordered, and R'har laughed.

"I love you," he told her, and it was her turn to giggle.

"As I love you."

"If I don't come back, you'll name the baby Arthur?"

"Shards, no. I told you I didn't like that name."

He frowned, and she caressed his cheek. "You're coming back, R'har, so it doesn't matter. What harm could befall you in your own home?"

He didn't reply, just kissed her fervently, pressing her against himself, with the curve of her belly in between. Kalaruth stood patiently as R'har leapt into the saddle, and then with Xanti waving them off, Kalaruth sprang into the air and took R'har _between._

---

"I don't understand," the king said. R'har stood in front of him, below the dais, his hand resting on the pommel of his sword at his side.

"As I have told you, Lord King, I have lived among the dragons and their people for a few years now, and I can assure you that they are completely harmless. Without the person they're specially attached to they cannot survive."

The King and his various advisers who had gathered round to listen looked perplexed.

_How's it going? _Kalaruth asked nervously. R'har had left him behind a hill a short distance away, feeling that to approach the large castle with a dragon would be nothing short of suicidal.

_Not great. They don't believe me, _R'har explained, and sighed.

"My Liege, I can prove to you beyond doubt that these dragons will do no harm. Kalaruth, who is bonded to me, is waiting only a short while away, towards the east. I can ask him to come to you."

"That won't be necessary," the king said, leaning forward, his eyes suddenly gleaming as he signalled to a man in the shadows. R'har watched with narrowed eyes as the man dashed off.

"What's going on?" R'har asked worriedly, turning his attention back to the king.

"It seems, Richard, that you have achieved your objective. You have, if not slain the dragon yourself, brought him to us for us to dispose of. As such, I present to you …"

The king never finished his sentence, because R'har had whirled and sprinted from the hall.

_Kal, get out of here! _He cried mentally, following the tracks of horses towards his dragon with a sick dread in his innermost soul.

_Why? There's … oh, look, there's some men. They have those stupid runner-animals you're so fond of, and shining sticks like yours. _

_Please, Kal, fly! _R'har begged, his legs pumping faster than ever before. He could see the hill in the distance, behind which Kalaruth was waiting, and then he heard a sound he never wanted to hear again: the dreadful shriek of a dragon in agony.

"_Kalaruth!_" he screamed with his lips and his mind and his heart. The dragon bugled in reply, and he crested the knell to see Kalaruth surrounded by men with swords, the metal gleaming in the sunlight as they dove in and sliced his hide into shreds.

"No!" R'har cried, and the sound was torn from his very soul. His sword flashed as it jumped into his hand, and he was in the midst of the band of men, cutting and hacking and killing before they realised they were under attack.

They encircled him and tried to cut off his route to Kalaruth, assuming he was mad or possessed. His sword sang in the sunshine as it sank into skin and bone, and eventually he fought his way to his dragon's side.

_Kalaruth, _he whispered in his mind, placing a hand on his dragon's abused shoulder, which shuddered with fatigue and pain.

_Behind you! _The bronze one gasped, his teeth blazing as he ripped a man in two – too late. With a cry of agony, R'har felt the point of a knife or dagger drive deep into his back. He clutched with feeble hands at Kalaruth's chest, his weakening nails digging into the bloodstained bronze hide. Kalaruth bellowed again and again as R'har's pain was added to his own, the swords sticking like branding irons into his sides.

R'har knew he was dying as a red haze of pain and fury descended over his eyes, clouding his sight. His pain was at the same time doubled and reduced with the knowledge that Kalaruth's life, too, was slipping away.

_I love you, friend of my heart, _he murmured, and would have slithered to the ground, but a mighty bronze paw rose and held him in place as the dragon pressed his rider against his heart.

_Forever, _Kalaruth agreed, and with one last brilliantly courageous, convulsive heave, leapt for the sky and went _between_.

---

_Kalaruth! _

Arlenth's cry rent Xanti in two with more poignancy than any knife. She was awake in an instant, struggling out of the bedclothes as the first dragons began to keen their loss.

_Arlenth, no! _Xanti shouted as the queen lumbered from her bed and threw herself from the ledge, her egg-heavy belly weighing her down, flashing an image of what had befallen R'har and Kalaruth before going _between_. Xanti sank to the ground, one hand clutched onto the bedpost so tightly her knuckles turned white, and the other pressed against her swollen belly.

"R'har," she sobbed, tears streaming uncontrolled down her cheeks. The door to her weyr smashed open and through tear-blurred eyes she made out the faces of her father and brothers.

"Oh, daddy," she choked out, reaching her arms out to him as she hadn't in turns. He came to her immediately.

"Sweetheart, tell me what happened. I need to know what happened."

She was choking and gasping for breath, clutching onto his shirt front as her brothers watched in horror and confusion.

"He went back … with Kalaruth … but they were attacked … daddy, Arlenth followed them _between_! And I can't hear her … I can't hear her at all."

He murmured soothingly in her ear, rubbing his hand in soft circles on her back, whilst shooting orders over his shoulder at her brothers.

"T'mer, A'rur, get on your dragons, get _between _and find that queen. P'gallad, go and find Aine and then Kolina. Now!"

They disappeared quickly, and Xanti's sobs seemed to be breaking her in half. Alroth, her father's great bronze, appeared on the ledge and hurried through to where his rider knelt. He very gently nuzzled Xanti's cheek with the tip of his snout, and she reached out a hand to him, placing it on his nose and gripping tightly. The three of them stayed like that for a long while, only Xanti's gasps breaking the silence.

"I have to go on, don't I?" Xanti said finally from V'dor's arms.

"Yes, you do," he agreed, smoothing her hair away from her damp cheeks.

_For R'har's sake, and Kalaruth's, and your child's, _Alroth added solemnly, and she groaned suddenly.

"Arlenth has to come back. Without her, I can't do anything at all."

With a rustle of wings, Alroth turned around and headed for the ledge.

_She'll come back. I'll make sure of it._

With a roar of challenge, Alroth leapt into the sky and went _between. _Carefully, V'dor led Xanti back to the bed, tucking the bedclothes around her, and then pulling her into an embrace again when her eyes filled up.

"What'll I do without him? Without them both?" she asked, gazing up at him, her hand fisted tightly in his shirt.

"You'll live your life. You'll be weyrwoman, and lead the weyr with the gravity and sense your mother and I taught you to. You'll raise your child, you'll love again. Sweetheart, this isn't an apocalypse. The world hasn't ended."

"Mine has," she whispered, and squeezed her eyes shut. Every dragon in the weyr heard her desperate cry for her queen, and joined their voices with hers as they called for Arlenth to come home.

With a screech of despair, two weary bronze dragons appeared outside Xanti and Arlenth's weyr, right behind a staggering, wraith-like Arlenth, who was more yellow than gold. She looked impossibly aged, and Xanti ran to her at once.

_Baby, baby, baby, _she crooned, caressing her dragon's eye ridges as she wilted onto the couch.

_Xanti, I tried, _Arlenth murmured, and Xanti pressed her forehead against her dragon's shoulder.

_I know. But they're gone._

_How are we supposed to live now?_

_We have to stay alive. For our families, for our children. We should be grateful we have a part of them left._

The exhausted bronze dragons withdrew quickly, leaving the two to their grief. V'dor shut the door carefully after Aine, who had judged the situation quickly and decided to fellis them both into sleep, to help them cope better with their misery.

---

The hatching of Arlenth and Kalaruth's clutch was tinged with an anguish that was impossible to ignore. The holders brought in to spectate overtly studied the young queenrider, her magnificent red hair down around her shoulders, her black-clothed arms cradling her newborn baby. Her face could have been carved from granite – no-one would ever know how much it pained her to watch this hatching without Kalaruth making bad jokes and R'har twining his fingers with hers.

Arlenth raised her head and matched her rider's gaze, each taking comfort from the other.

_I love you, _Xanti said, and she didn't need to add the unspoken part, _but I wish they were here._

_I love you too. And we can do this, Xanti. We can live our lives in a way that would make them proud. We'll be the best damn leaders this weyr's ever seen, and then we'll see them beyond _between.

_I'm going to call the baby Arthur, like he wanted._

_He'll like that. _

The gasps of the holders distracted them as the first egg started to rock, and the humming all around doubled in intensity. When the bronze hatchling spilled from the confines of its shell, Xanti could almost hear R'har's voice in her ear.

"Typical. So overly cliché. The bronze hatches first – happy ever after all round."

_I miss you, _she whispered so silently not even Arlenth heard her. She blinked the tears back hastily, pulling the granite face back on. She was a queenrider, she would endure. R'har and Kalaruth deserved nothing less.

---

**FIN**

**---**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, PMed me, and generally supported this story - I hope I haven't upset you all too much.**

**I now throw open the characters to anyone who wishes to write a story featuring them - the baby Arthur, perhaps - just so long as you credit the characters to me and don't mess with them too much!**


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